This invention relates generally to a base for securing a mooring whip to a permanent foundation, and more particularly to an improved mooring whip base which allows for greater operational efficiency with increased durability of the mooring whip.
Mooring whips have been utilized in the past to prevent a moored vessel from striking a dock, seawall, or the like by providing a positive force on the vessel directed away from the mooring site. The mooring whip acts as a spring to offset forces which would tend to force the vessel against the mooring side. However, the mooring whip base which secures the whip to the dock or pier or seawall must itself provide resilient force to allow the mooring whip to accomodate various movements of the vessel from wind force, tidal changes and wave action.
The prior art shows a mooring whip in U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,831, issued to Fulton, which has a complicated construction and uses resilient bushings and sleeves to provide resilient pivotal movement of the mooring whip. Another U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,707, issued to Carbone, shows a mooring whip anchoring means which uses a coiled spring for movement of the whip. The attachment of the whip and the spring itself which can be deformed plus the lack of limiting force in the direction of the whip movement as shown in these patents results in premature failure of the mooring whip base. Further extraordinary or abnormal forces experienced by the vessel could seriously over tension the mooring bases shown in the prior art, allowing vessel contact with the dock.
The instant invention overcomes the problems experienced in the prior art and provides a more resistive mooring whip base by mounting a strong, resilient member along the line of movement of the mooring whip apart from the mooring whip receptacle housing. Displacement of the resilient means from the housing allows for the trunion housing and the mooring whip receptacle housing to pivot unencumbered relative to each other to permit enlarged structural members.